Foxhunt
by shira syndrome
Summary: A strange incident causes Rukia to think back on the encounters between herself, and Ichimaru Gin.


Disclaimer: Let's give a big cheer for not owning things! Yay!

a/n: Um... hi. I blame this entirely on a friend. I don't know how it happened, but she suddenly started urging me to follow through with some kind of Rukia and Gin plot bunnie, after it attacked me ever so rudely. Not only that, but the first few paragraphs are also being turned into another one-shot involving Gin, Ichigo's family, and card games. Or something. It's her fault, damn it! Wah!

Anyway, this takes place near current manga chapters, but no blatant spoilers if you're caught up to the latest anime episodes.

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**Foxhunt**

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Rukia hears the news from Captain Hitsugaya: after nearly a month of silence between the three ex-captains, Ichimaru Gin had appeared at Ichigo's home, in broad daylight, unarmed and without the presence of any Arrancar.

No one had sensed his presence in the area, and it wasn't until the next day that Ichigo chose to tell anyone of the meeting (to the outrage of Renji, whom promptly threw him into a headlock and announced he was never letting the dumb bastard out of his sight again). Apparently, Ichimaru had not threatened, forced, or abused any occupant of the house, according to the tenth division captain.

He hadn't done anything but blabber on about stupid crap, Ichigo had finally relented. The worst had been whipping Yuzu's ass in Old Maid, he had said. He hadn't gotten another word in past Renji's throttling hands and screams of, "Why the fuck d'you let that shithead in your house while you were alone, idiot?"

Rukia doesn't know what to think. She knows Ichigo, knows how protective he is; Ichigo would have done everything in his power to protect them if his family had truly been in danger, but he had had no impetus to attack.

Ichimaru Gin had generated the opportunity to kill one of the strongest opposing forces to Aizen's plan - alone, without allies nearby, hindered by the presence of his family - but he had not done so.

That unpredictability... it didn't sit well with her. It was no surprise - he never had. The indistinct, uncomfortable presence that continued to linger on the periphery of her life, just out of reach, but with a cheeky grin always at the ready.

The first time she ever met Ichimaru Gin - the unexpected new captain of the third division - was six days after his formal inauguration. At the time, she had only just been brought into the folds of the Kuchiki clan, and hadn't had much of an ear for anything outside of her division and awkward new duties at home. She only heard about the change in position when her brother informed her in clipped tones one day, as they walked down towards the main office of the third division. Byakuya-nii-sama had been asked to assist the new captain on his first assignment (and put him through his paces if he got frisky, Kaien later told her) and would meet with him. It was somewhat of an honor to accompany her nii-sama, and she was rather curious. Rukia didn't mind being brought along.

That was… until she looked on his face and heard her name - a happily chirped 'Rukia-chan' - fall from his lips. He made her cold from the inside out.

When they rounded the corner, he was waiting outside the door, slumped casually against the wooden rail like any regular shinigami, humming an out of tune rendition of one of the more bawdy songs Rukia had once heard back in the slums of rukongai. His back was to them, staring out over the balcony. At the sound of approaching footsteps he angled his head ever so slightly, but he didn't turn to face them. He kept humming.

Rukia found that odd. She didn't know why; he was a young man, tall, most definitely, but not threatening. Scruffy silver hair and a rumpled haori. From an area not far off from hers, if that tune was any indication. An amenable sort of presence. But as soon as she stepped into close range, she was uneasy. In that moment she thought it was a silly reaction with no grounds, so had pushed it out of her mind.

A shinigami did not judge without reason.

Her brother came to a halt, and suddenly the stranger was in full animation, whirling around from his resting place and spreading his arms in greeting. "Remember me? That's Ichimaru Gin, or I guess Cap'n Ichimaru now, ne? Nice o' ya to come down 'ere and help me out, Captain Kuchiki. Can't say I know what I'm doin' as o' yet." Folding his arms in the sleeves of his kimono, that foxy face built of smiles turned on them full force.

_There is something wrong with that man_, was her first thought, followed by _What am I thinking?_

Then the captain of the third division turned his attention to her, tipping his head - and his eyes were punching holes in her, even closed as they were, in that perpetually grinning face - in her direction. "Aw, and this must be little Rukia-chan. Heard a lot o'bout you, but we've never really met, so ya probably don't know me too well." She couldn't have said what her expression looked liked, but he in turn gave a sort of throaty chuckle at the sight. It sent goosebumps rippling down her spine. "Ah, I promise I won't bite ya." His lips curled in another grin, just for her.

Somehow, somehow in some way she could not fathom, she could tell those open features were more closed off than even her brother's. Cavalier even, in a taunting way.

A mask, that's what it was… Anyone who needed such a mask...

He scared her. Right from the beginning, he frightened her down to the core.

Rukia side-stepped under the cover of her brother's shadow, just as he cleared his throat in a manner that said he was not impressed by the chatter.

"We will go to the main office now," he said. As an afterthought: "Captain Ichimaru." His voice was a dose of cold water to Ichimaru's disarming fire.

The other didn't seemed fazed in the slightest.

"Right-o. Through 'ere, then." Gesturing to the doorway, he addressed Rukia once last time. "See ya 'round then, Rukia-chan. Don't be gettin' in no trouble now, y'hear?" Then he was gone.

Her nii-sama nodded to her once. Then he was gone as well, and she was alone, and could finally take a desperate breath.

That had been the first of many meetings: once again when she was promoted to a seated officer within the thirteenth division (that lanky body leaning against the threshold, the flash of a grin over the top of Kaien's head, and then nothing but sunlight streaming in an empty doorway), and again at Kaien's memorial (black on white, a captain's haori fluttering amongst shihakusho, silver head of hair bowed respectfully, but still that slanted grin aimed at no one in particular), and _again_ on the fateful day of her execution -

_"Want me to save ya?"_

- the first time he ever touched her. But not the last, oh no. She can still remember the sound of his voice, thick with some unnamed amusement, thick and sweet like honeyed syrup. The only person to do what not even Ichigo, or Renji, or Byakuya-nii-sama could do.

_"If I felt like it, I could save ya right this minute."_

He shattered her resolve with no more than a murmur in her ear and a pat on the head, palm ruffling her hair lightly. Then he was gone, tail end of his haori brushing her cheek, and she was on her knees with such madness in her heart that her scream drowned out his soft laugh, no more desperate breaths for her to take.

Then on the grounds of the Soukyoku, Renji and Ichigo bleeding into the dry earth, and her body being passed from captain to captain, to Ichimaru's arms, and then to the ground at his side, collar held loosely by slender fingers. He was tapping a jaunty rhythm with his fingertips, and with a sick lurch, she realized it was the same tune he had been humming on the day of their first meeting.

Dust kicked up from the heat of battle, and he glanced down at her unnoticed. "Hope s'not too uncomfortable down there, Rukia-chan. I'd take a seat next to ya, but I gotta keep an eye on ya in case you try to run away. Captain Aizen wouldn't like that too much." She stared up at him - sunlight dancing in the pale ash of his hair, shadows cast across his face - blankly, numb. He cocked his head at her. "My legs're kinda tired myself," he said, as though it were supposed to mean something, as though they were friends exchanging offhand remarks about each other's day.

Her lips trembled. She wanted to say something, waiting for some magic word to fall from her tongue - but what was there to say? He waited, grin temporarily suspended as he watched her, and when she stayed quiet, he turned away. He stopped tapping and gripped the collar just a little harder.

No more meetings after that. She was free from those snake-eyes and fox-grins.

As she races down the streets, toward Ichigo's home, needing to see for herself he is unharmed, his father still alive and well, little Yuzu and Karin still whole and healthy, she remembers his voice -

_"Don' worry 'bout it. We're closer than that."_

- and shivers in her freedom.

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I really have no idea what this is. I don't know if I should be listing this as a fic where Gin insinuates something else for Rukia, or whether Rukia is insinuating something else for him (although, if you compare this to her canonical reaction to his charming presence, she's probably a little OOC, heh). Maybe it's just a twisted character study. To me, it screams vague sexual innuendo... so. Crack!fic, anyone? Also, is that a dash of some Renji/Ichigo at the beginning, or am I just tilting my head too far to the left? XD

But, I do know that Byakuya being forced to 'help' Gin is probably out of context, considering they became captains around the same time; just imagine Gin became a captain after Byakuya, okay? 


End file.
